Thursday, June 05, 2008

So Rick Reilly made his writing debut yesterday on ESPN and a ton of people posted about it and I could have cared less. It was the same column he's written over a million times, and while I appreciate his love for his Father...it wasn't really newsworthy. This however is.

Apparently a writer for the Province in Canada to plagiarize one of the most popular Sports writers on the Planet....

The most striking was a passage in Reilly's piece: "They say he was born 72 years ago last Thursday, but don't believe it. McGuire dropped straight out of Guys and Dolls with a martini in one hand and a basketball in the other."

Pratt wrote in Tuesday's column in The Province: "Cole was born 75 years ago, but it's more likely he dropped straight out of Guys and Dolls with a martini in one hand and a puck in the other."

"I did it, no question," said Pratt. "It was a mistake. In our [radio] business, lines get used back and forth all the time. That particular line is a pretty famous line and I should have credited Reilly with it and I didn't. It was a stupid mistake and something I regret and I'll make damn sure I'll never do it again.

"I'm looking for stuff from everywhere," added Pratt. "We recycle everything. The sheer amount of volume we produce forces you to constantly be looking for different people's ideas."

Yeah, we all are dude, but you copied that s**t word for word. I know blogging doesn't take much writing per post, but hell if With Leather posts something about a dude getting hit in the "nuts", I'll at least say it he got hit in the "junk". I kid, I kid.

But seriously, if you're going to plagiarize you might want to go a little lower on the totem pole. Like blogs!

I've been reading here for a few months now and I love it. I haven't said anything before because, way more often than not, I agree with the posts and who is good in the sports journalism world and who isn't. However, Rick Reilly is the man. His writing is unbelievable. He's been giving me goosebumpbs nearly every week for as long as I can remember. Just my opinion I suppose, but I just find it interesting that you often bash him.